Social engineering is the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery for information gathering or computer system access and in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victim.

So, I could use some advice in gaining information from a possible future business partner. I am trying to get myself into a new business; one that is highly competitive, but pretty lucrative once you know the ropes. I know someone who is currently in the same market and he is doing well. He knows the "in's-and-out's", and I very much want to extract as much info from him as possible. However, he is very cautious and is wary about creating any new competition. We have a meeting later this week, and I want to be prepared.

Any suggestions on maximizing my return with this guy?

How should I approach him? Eager? Humble?

Should I ask the questions, or let him do the talking?

I'm sure you guys have some good angles on this. I'll post results after the meeting.

Without knowing exactly what the scenario is, it would be difficult to examine. The entire concept for social engineering is A- being fairly in-tune with the subject matter and B- knowing general psychology. Since I only have a bit of B at this time, I can say that the subject won't likely respond well if you are pushy and eager. The best bet is to allow him to think that you could be his understudy... he will likely divulge more information if he feels he could profit off of you, so stroke the ego and act amazed at his profit margin or things of that nature.

I'm a pretty poor teacher on this subject... my general anti-social behavior and almost entirely sarcastic 24-7 demeanor limits my soc-eng abilities to people on the line at tech-support.. which.. in my line of work is rather handy.

Thanks. Yeah, it is relatively easy to get into the industry and has a gigantic bottom level to its hierarchical pyramid, but is very difficult to move beyond that. The guy I'm meeting with is a few levels up and has the knowledge I need to do the same. I have done research and have familiarized myself with the big picture and some industry jargon.

I do have a few other potential contacts, but I am closest to this first one. I know this isn't exactly a pure social engineering scenario, but there must be some ways to prep for this.

Well, I hate obscurity, I will suggest you start writing everything down and organize your ideas and doubts. Prepare smart questions, hackers love good questions, and get ready to receive some. This is the case of _real_ hackers; It might not be your case.

How much does he know about you? How much do you know about the industry? If it really is cut throat industry a useful tactic could be to try and make out it's you that's the big fish(or at least will be in the very-near future), if you know the industry jargon and could find out 1 or 2 things about it you could use these to back-up your seniority. Then he'll presume you know the stuff you want to find out and is more likely to reveal useful stuff.This depends on how well he knows you and how well you know the industryEither way he's going to be used to people trying to get stuff out of him(likely having used tricks to get where he is now) so you're going to have to display confidence and not appear too eager.

SnoopyChicken wrote:How much does he know about you? How much do you know about the industry? If it really is cut throat industry a useful tactic could be to try and make out it's you that's the big fish(or at least will be in the very-near future), if you know the industry jargon and could find out 1 or 2 things about it you could use these to back-up your seniority. Then he'll presume you know the stuff you want to find out and is more likely to reveal useful stuff.This depends on how well he knows you and how well you know the industryEither way he's going to be used to people trying to get stuff out of him(likely having used tricks to get where he is now) so you're going to have to display confidence and not appear too eager.

Ten months ago dude. OP is the ceo now, thats how come he never updated the thread with how the meeting went. Too busy. Thats gratitude for ya....

A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. -Bruce Lee